Houston takes the top spot in the AL West, because of Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh. Both pitchers are outstanding and should continue to produce as a lethal 1-2 punch for the Astros. Mike Fiers who was acquired mid-season by Houston worked out great for them as he no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers on August, 21st. Lance McCullers has high praise from the front office as they deemed him, “untouchable” in any trade. Houston looks to pick up what they put down in 2016 and will be a force to reckon with.

The Mariners, who are lead by “King Felix” have showed signs of greatness and have showed signs of all-time low. The Mariners got back Hisashi Iwakuma, who agreed to a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, however, the Dodgers backed out of the deal with concerns about the pitchers health. Taijuan Walker should continue to improve and the acquisition of Wade Miley adds depth in the back of the rotation as, Miley looks to rebound after a not-so-good 2015 season. The Mariners pitching staff will be head-to-head with the Houston Astros for best in the division.

The Rangers will be awaiting the return of Yu Darvish, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery. Once Darvish returns from injury, Cole Hamels and Darvish will be a solid core of starters for the Rangers. Colby Lewis is coming off a 17 win season and Nick Martinez was consistent. The team will be looking for more productivity out of 28-year-old, Derek Holland and 24-year-old, Martin Perez.

The Angels have been looking for pitching help for a while now (so they say), but have yet to add an arm to help the staff. Garrett Richards has a lot of heavy lifting along with Hector Santiago, who both, will need to pick up the slack for the aging, Jered Weaver, and C.J. Wilson. Matt Shoemaker was not himself in 2015, so look for him to bounce back in the 2016 campaign. If not, the Angels do have, Andrew Heaney waiting in the midst for his opportunity.

Besides Sonny Gray, the Oakland Athletics rotation is a joke, Jesse Hahn and Chris Bassit being penciled in as the two and three is horrendous. The only bright spot that Oakland has, is that Henderson Alvarez, who they signed this offseason, and Jarrod Parker are both coming back from injury. Until they return, Oakland will be at the bottom of the division in almost every pitching category.

About The Author

Matthew has been a baseball fan his entire life. Growing up in Southern Connecticut he emerged as an avid Mets fan. He recently graduated Anna Maria College in Paxton, MA. He received a degree in Human Services and Development. Follow him on Twitter @MattyJKozlowski